3 Stocks Going Ex-Dividend Tomorrow: DNP, EVR, ACI

Editor's Note: Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of TheStreet, Inc. or any of its contributors including Jim Cramer or Stephanie Link.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014, 5:00 AM ET, 79 U.S. common stocks are scheduled to go ex-dividend. The dividend yields on these stocks range from 0.1% to 14.1%. All of these stocks can be found on our stocks going ex-dividend section of our dividend calendar.

Owners of DNP Select Income Fund (NYSE: DNP) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 6 cents per share. At a price of $9.81 as of 9:33 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 8%.

The average volume for DNP Select Income Fund has been 416,100 shares per day over the past 30 days. DNP Select Income Fund has a market cap of $2.7 billion and is part of the financial services industry. Shares are up 4.1% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Monday.

Owners of Evercore Partners (NYSE: EVR) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 25 cents per share. At a price of $57.01 as of 9:34 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 1.8%.

The average volume for Evercore Partners has been 359,900 shares per day over the past 30 days. Evercore Partners has a market cap of $1.9 billion and is part of the financial services industry. Shares are down 4.1% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Monday.

Evercore Partners Inc. operates as an independent investment banking advisory firm. The company operates through two segments, Investment Banking and Investment Management. The company has a P/E ratio of 25.25.

TheStreet Ratings rates Evercore Partners as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income. You can view the full Evercore Partners Ratings Report now.

Owners of Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 1 cent per share. At a price of $4.12 as of 9:35 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 0.2%.

The average volume for Arch Coal has been 9.4 million shares per day over the past 30 days. Arch Coal has a market cap of $904.3 million and is part of the metals & mining industry. Shares are down 6.1% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Monday.

Arch Coal, Inc. engages in the production and sale of steam and metallurgical coal from surface and underground mines located in the United States.

TheStreet Ratings rates Arch Coal as a sell. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its disappointing return on equity, poor profit margins, weak operating cash flow, generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself and unimpressive growth in net income. You can view the full Arch Coal Ratings Report now.

One benefit of owning a stock is the potential that you will be paid a dividend. The distribution of dividend payments is another way for a company to share its profit with you. A dividend means that the company pays you a certain amount of money, either as a one-time payment or more commonly on a quarterly basis, for each share of stock you own.

Many times, dividends come at the expense of greater price appreciation, because the company is distributing its profits to shareholders rather than reinvesting the profits back into the growth of the company. However, companies that pay dividends can be very attractive to investors when they offer a steady stream of income. There are some important terms and dates an investor should be familiar with before purchasing any dividend-paying companies. Let's work through an example to help better explain some of these terms:

On March 1, ABC Widget Company has decided that because it holds excess cash and lacks investment opportunities, it would like to reward shareholders with a regular quarterly dividend payment. The date for this particular announcement is known as the declaration date. It is on this date that the company announces the specific dividend payment along with the holder-of-record date (aka record date) and the payment date. The company announces that a dividend payment of 25 cents per share will be payable March 31, 2012 (the payment date) to all shareholders of record at the close of business on March 16, 2012 (holder-of-record date). What does this all mean? Well the short story is that the company looks at its records on March 16 and anyone listed on the books as an owner of ABC Widget company will be eligible for the dividend payment (on March 31).

The one other important term to remember is the ex-dividend date. The ex-dividend date (typically two trading days before the holder-of-record date for U.S. securities) is the day in which a company begins trading without the dividend. In order to have a claim on a dividend, shares must be purchased no later than the last business day before the ex-dividend date. A company trading ex-dividend will have the upcoming dividend subtracted from the share price at the start of the trading day. Many times, the price of a stock will increase in anticipation of the upcoming dividend as the ex-dividend date approaches, yet will fall back by the amount of the dividend on the ex-dividend date.